Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02 is arguably the University’s most notorious alum. From his Tony Award-winning musicals “In the Heights” and “Hamilton” and his memorable performances in the lead roles of both to the earworms he penned for Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Encanto” and his artful film directorial debut “tick, tick…BOOM!,” Miranda’s impact on the theater and film industry over the last 15 years is undeniable. 

Besides the dozens of students who applied to the University to follow in the footsteps of their idol, few people have been influenced by Miranda and his work as personally as Noah Manumaleuga.

Manumaleuga is best known for his TikTok videos, in which he shows off an impeccable impression of Miranda. He often repeats trending TikTok sounds or songs from various musicals in Miranda’s voice. Manumaleuga met with The Argus over Zoom to discuss his meteoric rise to TikTok stardom and the benefits and pitfalls of having his own reputation and celebrity status linked to Miranda’s.

When he became involved in theater during his senior year of high school, Manumaleuga was immediately drawn to the work of Miranda, specifically “In the Heights,” which is still his favorite musical. Before long, Manumaleuga had memorized the cadences of Miranda’s distinct singing voice and would often joke around with his impression among family and friends.

“Before I started on TikTok, I would do the impression a lot with people around me,” Manumaleuga said. “And then I could tell they were getting annoyed [by] it, so I stopped doing it.”

Manumaleuga’s first attempt to share his hidden talent more publicly was on TikTok in 2018.

“I tried posting the impression on TikTok in 2018, and it got 10 views in a week,” Manumaleuga said. “[I thought to myself], ‘I don’t think [TikTok] is the place to put this stuff.’”

It wasn’t until the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns that Manumaleuga tried his hand at posting on the platform again.

“[When] the pandemic hit, everyone started posting on TikTok,” Manumaleuga recalled. “I had so much free time [that] I literally made one every day from the start of lockdown, for like a month and a half. I just had a lot of fun.”

Manumaleuga was inspired to make more TikToks impersonating Miranda by another TikTok creator, Drew Boudreau. Boudreau regularly impersonated Adam Pascal, who is known for his iconic performance as Roger Davis in “Rent” on Broadway and in its 2005 film adaptation. Each of Boudreau’s TikToks start with him announcing off-screen, in his normal voice, “Great news, Adam Pascal! You’ve been cast in [a musical] as [a role]!” He then proceeds to sing a couple of lines of an iconic theater role in a Pascal impression. Manumaleuga followed this format, using his impression of Miranda instead. 

“I was inspired by [Drew Boudreau] to start up a Lin-Manuel Miranda one,” Manumaleuga said. “[Different TikTok sounds] would be stuck in my head, and I was like, ‘What should I do with them? Might as well make the most of it and tap into this.’ So I started making all these popular sounds as Lin.”

The first of his videos in this format to go viral was one in which “Lin” got the part of Fiyero in “Wicked.” Another popular video, which features Manumaleuga singing JD’s lines from the musical adaptation of the 1988 cult classic “Heathers,” has been viewed over four million times. 

Seemingly overnight, Manumaleuga’s videos were attracting hundreds of thousands or occasionally millions of views, along with thousands of comments in awe of the similarity between his voice and Miranda’s. Manumaleuga’s celebrity status didn’t significantly change his life at first.

“It’s weird because I’ve been making content since 2013,” Manumaleuga said. “It doesn’t feel like I’ve been doing anything different since then, other than the audience is different and it’s bigger now.”

Manumaleuga was confronted with his newfound stardom for one of the first times during a trip to New York earlier this year. He attended BroadwayCon, a three-day convention where Broadway fans can meet and talk to stars. During an event hosted by Alex Boniello and Andrew Barth Feldman, both known for their performances in “Dear Evan Hansen” on Broadway, Boniello recognized Manumaleuga in the crowd from his TikToks and called the audience’s attention to his presence. This left Manumaleuga with a range of emotions, from pride to slight embarrassment.

As Thomas Jefferson raps during “Washington on Your Side” in “Hamilton,” every action has an equal opposite reaction. Miranda’s influence on Manumaleuga’s life grew as he produced more content, and Manumaleuga affected Miranda’s public image unexpectedly. In his impressions of Miranda, Manumaleuga often included a particular vocalization, generally stylized as ‘hyeah,’ that many other Broadway fans have come to know as a common element of Miranda’s rapping and singing. However, Miranda doesn’t actually use that vocalization very regularly. In fact, Manumaleuga can recall hearing Miranda himself make the sound only one time, during “In the Heights.” Because of Manumaleuga’s videos, the ad lib is now universally recognized as a staple of Miranda’s unique vocal style.

In the last few years, there has been an influx of criticism directed towards Miranda and some of his works, particularly the portrayals of race in “Hamilton” and the movie adaptation of “In the Heights,” much of which has been thoughtful and valid. Miranda has also inspired a variety of internet memes, some of them mocking his public persona. However, Manumaleuga has no intention of ridiculing or showing any malice towards Miranda with his videos.

In fact, Manumaleuga could not have created his TikToks without admiring and respecting Miranda enough to spend time memorizing and replicating the cadences of his voice. Manumaleuga’s modicum of fame speaks volumes about Miranda’s incredible impact on fans of theater, especially members of Generation Z.

Manumaleuga finally met his hero and inspiration earlier this year when he visited New York City to see a friend in “Chicago” on Broadway. He headed into the city a few days earlier than planned, giving himself extra time to see friends and visit his favorite places. After lunch with some friends, Manumaleuga decided to visit the Drama Book Shop, a small retailer of plays and scripts. It has been a central location of the New York theater scene for over 100 years and is frequented by Broadway’s biggest stars, including Miranda. As Manumaleuga browsed the store, he grabbed a copy of “In the Heights” from one of the shelves. 

“I think this one’s pretty good,” he said to his friends in jest.

“It is,” a familiar voice replied from behind him.

Manumaleuga and his friends spun around to see none other than Lin-Manuel Miranda himself smiling at them.

“Aren’t you the motherfucker using my voice on TikTok?” Miranda asked.

After Manumaleuga collected himself enough to respond, the two had a short conversation. In fact, they discovered that they were in New York City to support the same member of the “Chicago” cast that night. There wasn’t enough time for them to make a TikTok together, but they snapped a photo, which Manumaleuga tweeted the next day.

“I met the Ursula who stole my voice at the @dramabookshop,” Miranda tweeted back. “He was very nice. Video next time, @NoahManumaleuga!” 

Manumaleuga hopes that this won’t be his only opportunity to spend time with his favorite Broadway star, especially since he plans to move from his hometown of Phoenix, Ariz., to New York City to pursue theater full-time this year.

“Now, I just want to be in New York,” Manumaleuga said. “That’s where my goal is. I’m trying to move there by this summer. It’d be to pursue theater and other avenues, like voice acting.” 

Until then, Manumaleuga can be found on several social media platforms, including TikTok (@umokayig), Twitter (@NoahManumaleuga), and Instagram (@noahmanumaleuga_). Additionally, he’ll star in the leading role of the Baker in a production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods,” opening Oct. 20 near Phoenix.

As he delves into his career, Manumaleuga is striving to make a name for himself outside of his association with Miranda.

“A lot of people think I sound like [Miranda even when I’m singing as myself], but I think I have my own unique voice,” he said.

 

Sulan Bailey can be reached at sabailey@wesleyan.edu.

Lauren Cho can be reached at lcho@wesleyan.edu.